File consists of a 1953 North Peace High School yearbook.
File consists of a 1955 North Peace High School yearbook.
File consists of a 1957 North Peace High School yearbook.
File includes copies of "A Land Use Planning Framework" from July 1977 by the BC Ministry of Environment, Environment and Land Use Committee Secretariat, Resource Planning Unit. Also includes related printed transparencies.
File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "Action Steps to Sustainable Agriculture" at the Forum on Sustainable Agriculture in Summerland.
Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"This speech opens with a relatively broad discussion of sustainability- how defined - and how this relates to agriculture. "We've got to develop the ability to view farming in a conceptual sense, to view food production sustainability over the full horizon, including the urban world, as well as farm field."
The speech is broken into 3 sections with sub-sections:
(1) From a Practical Management Point of View. What Does "Sustainability" Mean on the Farm, Orchard or Ranch? Several points are made including the protection of land through the ALR. The principles of sustainability in, "Towards a Strategy for Sustainability" are listed.
(2) From the Food Producers Perspective, What are the Gaps in Practical Requirements to move Toward Sustainability? The points identified in the July 1994 workshop "Future of Agriculture in the Okanagan" are listed and noted as key points.
(3) With Land and Water Resources under Stress, What are the Action Steps to Regional Multicommodity Agricultural Sustainability? Under this topic seven sub-topics are explored:
a) sustainability and security of the land base with a particular emphasis on parcel size and the need for consolidation, land tenure, cost and speculation;
b) sustainability and water resources;
c) land use competition, compatibility, and planning process access - with an emphasis placed on the need for the farm community to have access to the planning process and a nod to the importance of Agricultural Advisory Committees. It is recognized that this will take an integrated effort of the ALC and Municipal Affairs;
d) vertically consistent policies and regulations from local to federal;
e) Right to Farm (with a plea to revisit the then current 'Agricultural Protection Act');
f) public education;
g) food policy; and
h) Socio-economic strategy for agriculture"
File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "Agricultural Land and Its Management".
Commentary by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"This paper has no indication of the audience or date but given that there are several references to 1990 reports, it probably dates to 1991.
Although the scope of this paper is national in several aspects, its primary focus is on the B.C. farmland preservation efforts.
Comment is made on the question of farmland being regarded as a 'commodity' vs 'scarce resource'. GGR draws upon a theme found in other speeches and papers when he notes that 'To some degree, the call for a new "foodland ethic" is based upon the belief that public policy should more adequately take into account the social value of foodlands, quite apart from the dollar value...."
The paper is broken into several sections:
(A) The Setting;
(B) Agricultural Land Loss, (which includes some excellent statistics - p. 2-3)
(C) Some Agricultural Management Issues,
(D) Action Response (this section briefly reviews farmland preservation efforts in each province with a particular emphasis on B.C. p. 5-6),
(E) The Future.
GGR lists the following action steps that BC should pursue:
File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "Agricultural Land and Land Use Decision Making in the 1980s" for the Western Land Directors' Conference, Victoria BC (June 7-11,1981).
Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"The speech is a collection of familiar themes but GGR's assemblage and delivery is becoming ever-more refined. The speech was accompanied by overheads but they are not included.
The paper starts with two quotes from Hans Blumenfeld and O'Malley. In the case of Blumenfeld - North Americans want to live in efficient, convenient, healthy and pleasant environment but as individuals we want to be able to make an honest dollar out of every piece of property we own. The two concepts are basically incompatible. The O'Malley quote speaks of land as a mother because she gives life, is a provider, protector and comforter.
Some (but far from all) of the important observations include:
The paper ends with the following quote from Bill Moyers, "Government is the art of trying to solve problems. Politics is the art of trying to attain power. The two meet sometimes, but not often."
File consists of Gary Runka's records during his roles as general manager of the BC Land Commission (appointed 1973) and as the chairman of the Agricultural Land Commission (1975-1978) during its formative years. Includes correspondence, reports, informational material, and maps. Highlights include:
Maps include:
File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "Agricultural Land Commission 1978 - What's Happening?" to a UBC Soil Science and Land Use Planning Seminar.
Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"This is simply a single page outline of a speech given at a UBC Soil Science and Land Use Seminar providing an overview of the farmland preservation program to date.
The outline is broken into 5 sections:
The actual speech based on this outline is not included."
File consists of Gary Runka's records relating to the Agricultural Land Commission after departing his role as Chairman. During this period he consulted for the ALC and continued on as a part-time Commission member. Includes correspondence, papers, informational material, and newspaper clippings. Highlights include:
File consists of Gary Runka's records relating to the Agricultural Land Commission after ending his direct involvement with the Commission. Includes correspondence, papers, informational material, and newspaper clippings. Highlights include:
File consists of records relating to the Agricultural Land Commission and Gary Runka's consulting work for the ALC in 1993. Includes a G.G. Runka Land Sense Ltd. Invoice to the ALC for his services for the 1993 ALC symposium and the "preparation of a framework approach to land suitability for agriculture mapping for a range of crops within the Okanagan Valley, as follow up to the land suitability for tree fruits initiative of the Okanagan Valley Tree Fruit Authority", as well as a copy of the government contract for the latter. Also includes correspondence, news clippings, data, and background information.
File consists of records relating to the Agricultural Land Commission. Includes correspondence, news releases, background information, papers, and memoranda. Highlights include:
File consists of records relating to the Agricultural Land Commission. Includes correspondence, news releases, background information, papers, drafts, newspaper clippings, and memoranda. Highlights include:
File consists of records relating to the Agricultural Land Commission. Includes correspondence, news releases, background information, papers, and memoranda. Highlights include:
File consists of original copies of Agricultural Land Commission Annual Reports. Includes reports for: 1977-1978, 1995-1996, 1996-1997, 1997-1998, 1998-1999, 1999-2000, 2000-2001.
File consists of personal correspondence to Gary Runka during (or related to) his time at the Agricultural Land Commission. Includes letters of appreciation and correspondence with Ministers.
File consists of original copies of Agricultural Land Commission statistical reports for the British Columbia Agricultural Land Reserve. Includes reports for: 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997.
File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "Agricultural Land Preservation - Some of the Problems" to an unknown audience, possibly a political caucus. A "Process Chart" of the B.C. Agricultural Land Commission Act is attached to the speech.
Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"This speech was given several months after GGR's resignation as Chair of the Commission in January, 1979. There is no specific indication of who the speech was given to but mention is made to "caucus members" (p. 4) and therefore may have been the NDP caucus.
Specific mention is made to the opportunity to undermine the program by the Section 9(8) changes to the Act. (This is a reference to allowing the Minister of Agriculture to forward appeals of Commission's decisions to the Environment and Land Use Committee of Cabinet if no two Commissioners give leave to appeal)..
Mention is also made to the need for the Commission to be aware of problems affecting agriculture if it is to be the true defender of agricultural interests. Reference (p. 3) is made to the Commission being: "... too busy attending to applications to take a seriously positive role to ensure that present and future land use conflicts ... are minimized."
GGR also raises his concern with attempts to narrow the definition of "agricultural land" by suggestions that CLI Class 4 - 7 lands be automatically excluded from the ALR. He also expresses the need to be concerned with land use planning outside the ALR.
GGR criticizes "a less than positive attitude by government" (to farmland preservation) and calls for the need for a provincial land use strategy."
File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka to the B.C.I.A. entitled "Agricultural Land Reserves and the Land Commission Act".
Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"With the original package associated with this speech are 5 pages of rough notes for another speech with the same title prepared for a B.C.I.A. meeting on March 22, 1976... Given that these rough notes were held with the material associated with the April 15, 1976 meeting it is possible the B.C.I.A. meeting planned for March was shifted to the April date. Additionally there are 6 pages numbered 6-11 that are of some detail concerning the work of the Commission but appear to be part of another speech but are included with the B.C.I.A. package and have, therefore, been [included with this speech].
The title of the speech "Agricultural Land Reserves and the Land Commission Act" sums up the thrust of the speech which notes the objectives of the legislation, the Commission's program of land acquisition and Commission research and support of innovative projects to assist rural planning to create a positive environment for agriculture and give direction to urban growth away from farmland.
Additionally an overview is provided of the Commission's activities in its first two years of operation. GGR comments that establishing the ALRs "... was but a first step and we feel that it is our job to continue to protect the Reserve by whatever approaches and methods of rural planning that are available to us". This speaks to a Commission that saw its role, even at this early stage, as being much more than simply a rationing board reviewing ALR applications.
Several examples are outlined in which it is suggested that professional agrologists should be looking at carefully.
At the end of the speech (p.5) GGR includes (a note to himself) to "follow with example of an agrologist's public statement" that obviously was of concern. The actual public statement was not included with the speech given on April 15th but was included in the rough notes of the speech dated March 22 which read as follows:
"Yet a member of the B.C.I.A. - a P.Ag - is quoted in the press in response to a local politician who asked him a question something like this in regard to an ALR exclusion application:
Local politician: What about the international, national and local concerns regarding land for future food production?
BOA member P.Ag: We should firstly be concerned with places for people to live and secondly worry about land for food production.
This is our profession - the image is yours to make.
I don't mean that we should go overboard, but if we are not willing to defend preservation of agricultural land - who is?"
File consists of material created or collected by Audrey L'Heureux regarding agriculture and weather in British Columbia. Highlights include:
File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "Agriculture in the Urban Shadow" at the Agricultural Land Commission Symposium - Urban Growth and the Agricultural Land Reserve: 'Up not Out' - March 9,1993.
Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"This represents an important, highly pertinent speech concerning farmland preservation in B.C. The speech was given at the ALC Symposium marking the 20th anniversary of B.C.'s farmland preservation program. The speech rings as relevant today as it did when delivered 22 years ago.
It begins by identifying two perspectives - one, those committed to an agricultural future, contributing diversity and having a social value and two, those that feel agriculture is ultimately doomed and is only an interim use, especially in the urban shadow, until a "higher and better" use comes along. GGR states that we need to honestly state which perspective we are guided by.
There are a host of important themes woven through this paper including:
Several (13 starting on p. 7) urban shadow issues are outlined and GGR states that we must be serious about addressing urban shadow issues.
The paper ends with an outline of "where we need to be tomorrow" and GGR states: "I recall when the program began in 1973 we argued that all of the compromises with respect to agriculture had already been made, if we were to keep the options open for future
generations In British Columbia. If that statement was true then, how much more true is it today, 20 years later?"
From the Symposium concluding remarks, Gary Runka stated that based on his experience and discussions during the symposium, he believed that the following initiatives should be given priority:
The Symposium proceedings have been compiled in a 67 page ALC publication."
File consists of meeting minutes, correspondence, discussion papers, and conference materials. Includes:
This CD-ROM contains the published Agricultural Land Commission Handbook Electronic Library 1999 Edition. Software install on a compatible computer is required to access the content.
File consists of an article written by Gary Runka entitled "Balanced Agriculture - Its Social Value" for the Symposium o n Decoupling, Ottawa - February 10-12,1988.
Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"This speech was prepared for publication in the July 1988 edition of t he "Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics".
The Symposium explores the social and economic values of agriculture and this paper primarily pursues the social value side of the equation and asserts that a healthy agricultural sector has a social as well as economic value to Canada.
The paper is broken into four sections:
(I) The Farm;
(II) Rural Communities and Regions;
(III) Canada and Beyond; and
(IV) Summary.
Under these broad topics the paper considers several themes, many of which have a strong or direct relationship to farmland preservation. B.C. and Quebec programs are directly mentioned. A few of these themes are captured here:
File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "BC Experience: Establishing Priorities for the Use of Rural Land Resources" for the Canadian Institute of Planners Annual Conference in Kitchener, Waterloo.
Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"This is a second speech GGR gave at the 1980 CIP Conference.
The 'rural' stage is set by stating that BC is 94% crown land of which 53% is unreserved crown land - so lots of rural land to plan for.
The paper largely outlines 8 examples of rural land use priorities in BC including:
The paper helps to place the farmland preservation in the context with other land use planning efforts in British Columbia."
This CD-ROM contains digital records collected and produced by Gary Runka during his consultancy work for client job 593 / 601, the Grasslands Conservation Council of BC's "Facilitation and Consultations for Mitigating the Fragmentation and Development of BC Grasslands Workshop" project. Includes the following documents:
This CD-ROM contains the digital publication, "BC Land Summit Conference Proceedings, May 12-14, 2004" in PDF format.
File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "BC Land Use Issues and Smiling Frogs" for the Agricultural Institute of Canada Foundation.
Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"This presentation, which was accompanied by slides (not with speaking notes) reviews five diverse land use issues of which three involve agriculture, two of which were directly linked to the ALC.
The 'Smiling Frogs' metaphor is wonderfully explained as the heat is turned up and down on land use issues and complacency is something to be avoided.
GGR was directly involved in some capacity with each of the issues reviewed and, therefore is in a position to provide an "insiders" point of view. The five issues were:
File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "BC Soil Conservation Issues: How Serious are They?" for a BCFA Soil Conservatiori Seminar - March 10,1987.
Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"Stressing the importance of soil conservation, this speech begins by noting that all land and water users (not just agriculture) - on-site or off-site - are involved with soil conservation.
The paper is broken into 3 sections:
(1) Framework Considerations in which the diversity of BC's landform and climate is noted. The key soil conservation issues from a provincial perspective are reviewed including:
(2) Economic Considerations - the estimated loss annually in agriculture due to soil erosion is 30 to 50 million dollars.
(3) Legislation and Institutional Structure Considerations - BC is noted as having no provincial legislation that has soil conservation as its main thrust.
While the ALC Act and ALR are not directly mentioned, soil conservation is an important associated issue related to farmland preservation."
File consists of selected professional development declarations and records submitted to the British Columbia Institute of Agrologists (BCIA) and the Canadian Consulting Agrologists Association (CCAA). Submission of these professional development records was required for ongoing membership with the associations. These records also provide a record of Gary Runka's ongoing professional involvement in the disciplines of resources management, environment and climate, land use and reclamation, agriculture, and soil science. Also includes a version of Gary Runka's resume circa 1998.
File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "BC's Agricultural Land Reserve - Its Historical Roots" at the Post World Planners Congress Seminar.
Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"Vancouver hosted the World Planners Congress in June 2006 and the day following the Congress the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada hosted a full day seminar entitled "Planning for Food".
GGR provided an important overview of the BC farmland preservation program. The speech begins with comments outlining the factors motivating the government of the day to enact legislation to preserve agricultural land. The presentation was then broken into three time periods including:
The Formative Years (1972-1975)
The Refinement Years (1976-1996)
The Uncertain Years (1996-????)
GGR in his summary poses some less than optimistic questions and observations. He states that despite successes "there are growing
concerns that, over its history, the focus of the program has subtly shifted - from an agency devoted to farmland preservation, to a rationing board." He sees the focus on application review as being detrimental to the Commission's role of promoting and encouraging farming in the ALR. Given this shift in direction he presents several suggestions to get the program back on track.
The presentation ends with a challenge to the people of B.C. to decide whether the next segment of the B.C. farmland preservation history is entitled 'The Rebuilding Years' or not."
File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "BC's Land Use and the Current Land Inventory".
Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"Although page 4 of this speech is missing (or possibly intentionally deleted), this document provides a detailed explanation of the CLI ratings and may well have been the basis of interpretation guidelines for agricultural capability mapping used by the ALC.
GGR at the time was the B.C. Land Inventory Field Coordinator.
It appears that slides at one point accompanied this speech."
This CD-ROM contains a Word document version of "Bella Coola Valley Invasive Plants: Fall 2008 Inventory and Recommendations" (2008) by Erin Williams, along with an accompanying cover letter.
File consists of a meeting agenda, minutes, mission statement, and promotional postcards for the Bella Coola Watershed Conservation Society.
File consists of selected correspondence, mailings, newsletters, pamphlets and workshop information from the British Columbia Institute of Agrologists (BCIA). Gary Runka was a long-time BCIA member. Includes issues of the British Columbia Institute of Agrologists (BCIA) Newsletter, the BCIA Special Report for the 65th Annual General Meeting, workshop materials for the BCIA 2012 ethics workshop, and the BCIA Committee on Principles of Stewardship Report to Council (29 March 2010).
File consists of G. Gary Runka's business card collection, which includes many unique examples of business cards from BC, Canada, and beyond. Includes cards for personal contacts and businesses as well as business contacts.
File is a Greenpeace presentation folder with a package of reports and ephemera about the Canadian Great Bear Rainforest.
File consists of two original unbound volumes of the draft report "Carcross Valley - Marsh/Tagish Lakes - Atlin Road Land Management Planning Project" released September 1979 by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and the Government of the Yukon. Volume 1 consists of "Review Framework and Resource Data" and Volume 2 consists of "Resource Data Maps".
File consists of working records of the Central Coast Plan Implementation Monitoring Committee. The purpose of the committee was to monitor and report progress toward implementation of the British Columbia Central Coast land use plan and make recommendations on plan revisions to Provincial and First Nation governments. The land and resource management planning (LRMP) process in the Central Coast area began in 1996. In April 2001, an interim agreement was signed by the Province and stakeholders. Includes a promotional DVD created by the provincial government.
This CD-ROM contains the digital publication, "Coastal Resource & Oil Spill Response Atlas for the West Coast of Vancouver Island". Software install on a compatible computer is required to access the content.
This CD-ROM contains the digital publication, "Commission on Resources and Environment Electronic Library 1995 Edition", a comprehensive collection of the publications and support documents of the Commission on Resources and Environment. Software install on a compatible computer is required to access the content.
File is part of Gary Runka's "Communication Planner", a branded time and communications management system by Priority Management Systems. These "Communications Planners" include a page (or pages) for every contact Gary Runka communicated with. Listed on the contact's page are: contact information, related client job numbers, and a summary of the subject of and response to each communication with that individual. The Communication Planner system divides the contacts alphabetically by last name. These contacts can be cross-referenced to the client job files.
File is part of Gary Runka's "Communication Planner", a branded time and communications management system by Priority Management Systems. These "Communications Planners" include a page (or pages) for every contact Gary Runka communicated with. Listed on the contact's page are: contact information, related client job numbers, and a summary of the subject of and response to each communication with that individual. The Communication Planner system divides the contacts alphabetically by last name. These contacts can be cross-referenced to the client job files.
File is part of Gary Runka's "Communication Planner", a branded time and communications management system by Priority Management Systems. These "Communications Planners" include a page (or pages) for every contact Gary Runka communicated with. Listed on the contact's page are: contact information, related client job numbers, and a summary of the subject of and response to each communication with that individual. The Communication Planner system divides the contacts alphabetically by last name. These contacts can be cross-referenced to the client job files.
File is part of Gary Runka's "Communication Planner", a branded time and communications management system by Priority Management Systems. These "Communications Planners" include a page (or pages) for every contact Gary Runka communicated with. Listed on the contact's page are: contact information, related client job numbers, and a summary of the subject of and response to each communication with that individual. The Communication Planner system divides the contacts alphabetically by last name. These contacts can be cross-referenced to the client job files.
File is part of Gary Runka's "Communication Planner", a branded time and communications management system by Priority Management Systems. These "Communications Planners" include a page (or pages) for every contact Gary Runka communicated with. Listed on the contact's page are: contact information, related client job numbers, and a summary of the subject of and response to each communication with that individual. The Communication Planner system divides the contacts alphabetically by last name. These contacts can be cross-referenced to the client job files.
File is part of Gary Runka's "Communication Planner", a branded time and communications management system by Priority Management Systems. These "Communications Planners" include a page (or pages) for every contact Gary Runka communicated with. Listed on the contact's page are: contact information, related client job numbers, and a summary of the subject of and response to each communication with that individual. The Communication Planner system divides the contacts alphabetically by last name. These contacts can be cross-referenced to the client job files.
File is part of Gary Runka's "Communication Planner", a branded time and communications management system by Priority Management Systems. These "Communications Planners" include a page (or pages) for every contact Gary Runka communicated with. Listed on the contact's page are: contact information, related client job numbers, and a summary of the subject of and response to each communication with that individual. The Communication Planner system divides the contacts alphabetically by last name. These contacts can be cross-referenced to the client job files.
File is part of Gary Runka's "Communication Planner", a branded time and communications management system by Priority Management Systems. These "Communications Planners" include a page (or pages) for every contact Gary Runka communicated with. Listed on the contact's page are: contact information, related client job numbers, and a summary of the subject of and response to each communication with that individual. The Communication Planner system divides the contacts alphabetically by last name. These contacts can be cross-referenced to the client job files.